Thursday, March 15, 2012

Recently a newspaper comic strip took on a hot button political issue in a provocative stand in a week-long series which ignited controversy and outrage:

I kid. Zack Hill is a minor comic and this series of strips went practically unnoticed. The story line for the comic seems to be based on this real news story about a preschooler who had her lunch confiscated because it was not well-balanced enough for the person checking lunches, whoever that may have been. For a week or so this became a cause celebre with all sorts of people decrying rampant Nanny State-ism. The primary complaint seemed to be over-reach into the personal decisions of a parent to determine what is an adequate meal.

This week the more high-profile comics and/or editorial page stalwart Doonesbury also took on a topical issue with this strip summing up the tone:

(click image for a more legible version)

As widely reported, this series of strips satirizes the trend in states such as Texas and Virginia to require women seeking an abortion to have an invasive sonogram as a prerequisite to the procedure. It also tackles the issue as one of government over-reach and excessive Nanny State-ism. Feel free to draw your own additional parallels.